The World of “Social” and Relational Judiasm
I slyly pulled my laptop out of my backpack and settled into my theater seat at the SVA Theater in Chelsea, reassuring myself that as a professional Jew, it was logical that I was at Social Media Week New York. The first presentation discussed the dissimilarity among social[1] platforms data collection – interesting – but not connected to my new role as Community Engager at BZBI. By the end I had flipped over my name badge (that clearly said Temple Beth Zion – Beth Israel) and slightly panicked that the conference was a wash.
And, then, in my next session, Kathleen Hessert revealed the rationale behind the Pope Emoji, and her approach as she worked with the Vatican for the Pope’s American tour. She explained they targeted “casual” and “future” fans through their social media use, not necessarily “avid” fans during their campaign.[2] I perked up, quickly mentally re-organizing the lists of people who are in touch with BZBI, categorizing the names into Kathleen’s three fan bases. I realized that this language resonated with my work.
As the three days of Social Media Week unfolded, most sessions circled back to the same message – the world of social and the world of marketing no longer had to just push a brand, in fact, they had to connect with their consumers through one-to-one sharing.[3]
If you spend time in the Jewish communal world, relational Judaism has been a buzzword for sometime now. Dr. Ron Wolfson’s book, Relational Judaism, is quoted often in articles and institutions were quick to adapt the approach. Wolfson writes:
The goal of Jewish institutions is not self-preservation; it is to engage Jews with Judaism. It’s not gaining more members; it’s gaining more Jews. It’s about people, not programs. It’s about deep relationships, not fee-for-service transactions…Our new goals is served by putting people before programs (p.23).
As I learned at Social Media Week, the world of social could easily fit this model by stating:
The goal of marketing is not self-preservation; it is to engage potential consumers with our brand (and use avid consumers to help)…it is about people, not products.
I left Social Media Week with a more defined direction for BZBI’s social media strategy.[4]
I also left with a renewed reassurance of BZBI’s relational membership strategic approach. An integral part of that approach engages our newly formed Ambassador Program, where BZBI Ambassadors meet with people who have expressed interest in BZBI.
Over the past week Rabbi Friedman, Rabbi Goldman, Rebecca Krasner, Sara Laver, and I trained 22 new BZBI Ambassadors. We will be matching ambassadors with persons who have expressed interest about BZBI.[5] Each ambassador will take a person of interest out for coffee, for a “relational meeting.” The goal of these meetings is not to sell BZBI, but to form relationships – for the ambassador to listen to the person’s talents, passions, and life experience, and for the ambassador to also share something about themselves.
After the relational meetings the ambassadors will share with me what they’ve learned about the people they met with. This information will help us match people interested in BZBI with areas of communal life here that connect to their particular interests and gifts. As some of the people our ambassadors are meeting join the synagogue, these meetings will help us identify potential future leaders. Over time, the information we are gathering from these meetings will help us to identify concerns and passion that are alive in our community. Finally, this Ambassador Program will help us nurture community, build trust, and foster a sense of belonging among ambassadors.
Social Media Week confirmed that relational is not only a Jewish communal buzzword, it is not just the future, and it not just a trend – it is the reality in both the Jewish communal world and our greater society. I am thankful to continue to build on the relational Judaism approach in our membership strategy, in programming, and, of course, in the world of social.
[1] I quickly learned Social Media is referred to as Social.
[2] Avid fans= church going people, Casual fans = people who maybe left the church, Future fans = potential people to engage with the church.
[3] Thank you instagram for not letting us repost but just tag individuals as opposed to the original facebook status of, “Terri is: writing for the Shofar blog!”
[4] Stay tuned for a brief survey from BZBI about YOUR social media use later this spring.
[5] They have expressed interest in meeting an ambassador.
